Hear Her Roar
by Kayy716
Summary: Not all of the Saviors were standing by Negan. In a world with enough evil and chaos, a leader like Negan is the downfall of all. Together, the Kingdom, Alexandria, and The Hilltop will stand, with a small handful of Saviors beside them, to take down the one man who costed them everything. (Not canon. A/U after the midseason finale.)
1. Chapter 1

" _Mommy!" she screamed as he tore us apart. He tied my hands behind my back as his men carried my daughter off into the woods. "Mommy!"  
"Where are you taking her?" I cried, trying to fight against the man pinning me down. He had a wicked smile on his face.  
"Oh, off far, far away," he laughed this hideous laugh. "All you had to do was listen. Now you get to learn who the hell I am the hard way."  
I fought back tears as I stopped fighting. "Don't kill her," I begged. I promised myself right there that I would do two things before I died. Kill Negan and find my daughter._

"Blow them up, don't let anyone live," Henry reminded me as we moved in. Henry was a nobody. But in Negan's eyes he was a leader for some damn reason. So he was leading the small band inside first. We were supposed to scout before blowing each and every house to bits. Except Rick's. Negan had plans for Rick.

Alexandria. We've been taught to hate that place. Negan said this was it, this was the last fight. The Kingdom belonged to him now. Hilltop was going to stay our milk cow, producing the foods we needed so desperately. But Alexandria would burn.

"I know," I muttered. I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed the men in. We split up. We knew most of the settlement got out. It was just that kind of feeling. I didn't throw a single grenade. I wasn't out for blood. These people? These people didn't hurt me. Not personally. And Dwight had filled me in on his plan.  
"Keep as many alive as you can," he begged me earlier that day. "If you can prove to them you're on their side, they'll help you."  
"I just want to know which one of them found my daughter," I said tiredly. I had only been with the Saviors for about six months. In that time Negan had put my skills to use and turned me into a true solider. What he never knew was that my loyalty never lied with him.  
"I am almost positive I saw her with Maggie's group," he promised. "All you've got to do is get in there and fake your death."  
"That's the plan," I nodded.

I looked around. There was smoke and destruction everywhere. Then I saw him. He was down on his knees, gasping in pain. He was Rick's boy. Carl, if I recalled correctly.

"Hey kid," I said in a hushed tone, carefully coming up to him. "Don't do nothing stupid, I'm going to get you outta here."  
"Why?" He groaned. He was soaked in sweat. I wasn't sure what was wrong with that kid, but I knew he was important, I knew he was worth saving. "I was bit."  
"But you've got time," I said cautiously. I knew the infection spread rapidly, but not too rapidly. We've had people live for days after being bit. "Your dad'll wanna see you one more time before you turn."  
"Why are you helping me?" He asked as I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him to his feet.  
"I have a daughter, she's four. I think your friend Maggie might have found her. I know if the tables were turned, I'd want someone to bring my baby back to me," I said honestly. "I'm not one of the bad guys."

I could tell he wanted to fight me, but instead he leaned heavily on me as I tried to pull him away from the smoke and flames that ripped through his home.  
"Sewer," he groaned, trying to take the lead. "That way," he nodded when he realized he needed me to lean on. He couldn't walk on his own.

We had to stop several times, but the smoke and flames kept us hidden. When I heard Saviors shouting, coming in our direction, I threw a grenade and smoke bomb in the direction of one of the houses. This bought us just enough time to get to the sewer.

"I can't climb," Carl said sourly. "I can't…"  
"Hang on," I said softly. I sat him down and lifted the manhole cover. I looked down and tried to formulate a plan. "How far back are your people?" I asked.  
"It goes a ways," he said tiredly.  
"Don't you die on me, kid, I don't wanna be the one to put you down," I muttered. I looked around before settling on the stupidest plan I had ever came up with. "Lock your arms around my neck," I said.  
"I'm too heavy for you," he said weakly.  
"Kid, I'm a mom. I've got you," I said softly. He did as I asked and without hesitation, I was lowing myself and him down into the tunnel. Each bar of the ladder was torture, but in my eyes and heart, it was worth it. Even if I was killed on spot, at least I know I hid Rick's son from Negan and his men. At least I did one thing right.  
"Why are you helping me?" Carl asked again as we hit the ground below. I wrapped my arm around his waist and started to lead him down the dark tunnel.  
"I never got a choice," I said softly. "Negan had my daughter taken into the woods and that was the last I saw of her, though my heart tells me she is still alive. Negan saw my talent and said I was too good to be a worker. So he tried to turn me into his secret weapon. It didn't work. My hate for him and his group…I think I hate them more than you do. So I lied my way through these last few months. I pretended to fight. I pretended to care. All the while making sure I had a plan to get the hell out of there first chance I got. I need to know once and for all if my daughter is alive."

"Carl?" a concerned voice called. "What did she do to you?"

Before either of us could speak, a woman who I had seen before had a gun to my head.

"She saved me, Tara," Carl said weakly.

I let go of him and lowered him to the ground before taking my pistol out of my waistband, my knife out of my boot and dropped the bag.

"It's a long story," I said slowly. "But if I wanted to hurt any of you, I would have already."  
"Lower the gun, Tara," another voice said softly. Tara sighed and did so, but not before hissing a very clear threat.  
"One wrong move and you're dead."

Daryl, who I knew from the time Negan held him captive, watched me quietly. Rick's daughter was in his lap, tired and afraid.

"You got out," he finally said softly.  
"I can't go back now," I said carefully. "We were spotted. They know I'm helping you."  
"We're dead," Dwight said softly, looking up at me with sad eyes. "If Negan finds us…"  
"He won't find me," I said carefully. "I have one last thing to do, then I can disappear again. We spent two years hiding. Didn't see a single person before Negan stumbled upon one of our many holes in the ground," I shook my head sadly. "I just need to know if Maggie has her in that damn camp somewhere."  
"Who?" Daryl asked, giving me a suspicious look.  
"My daughter," I said. I pulled my last photograph of her from my pocket. "She's about four now, but her eyes, her smile, I'd know it anywhere."  
"Gregory said Paul found a girl not too long ago. That's all I heard him saying when he came to talk to dipshit," Dwight reminded me. "How many kids you know running around the woods these days?"  
"Too many, unfortunately," I muttered. "Anyway, we might die. But I don't care if I need to use a human shield, I need to know," I said bitterly. I looked down at the toddler in Daryl's lap. She looked no more than three. "There's a blanket at the bottom of my bag," I motioned to Tara, who was rummaging through my bag. "Give it to the child," I said lightly before looking at Carl.

He looked awful. I could tell he was bitten within the last two days and didn't have much time left. Maybe a day, maybe more.

"It hurts," he said as I came to sit next to him. I nodded as I lifted his shirt, moving the bandage slowly. It was bad. Deep and infected.  
"I can't save you, but I can help," I said softly. I reached into my coat and pulled a small bag free.

"Drop it!" Tara hissed, rushing at me.  
"Tara, enough," a familiar voice echoed. We all looked up slowly to see Rick, trailed by Michonne, making their way down the tunnel. "Help with what?" He directed his question at me. I moved back so he could see what everyone was seeing.

Carl. His son, bitten and sure to die.

Rick went pale. He looked like he wanted to cry or scream or kill everyone right there. But he didn't. He knelt beside his son and nodded to me. "Help."

I pulled clean bandages out of the bag, along with a suture kit and two vials of antibiotics.

"It won't save him," I said softly, "but it will slow the infection, the actual infection, not the bite itself."

I made quick work cleaning and stitching the wound before infecting the antibiotic directly into it. I felt Carl tense but I knew he would survive the night at least. I moved away after that and stared into the darkness.

I knew I had sealed my fate by saving Carl. Dwight did too by helping Daryl and the rest. If Negan found us, we were as good as dead, if not worse. In my head, I was coming up with a plan, but on the outside, I was silent, not daring to speak or move.

One thing was certain. Negan had to die. The rest of us Saviors? Well time would only tell if we were killed too. But Negan, no Negan needed to die a slow and painful death. And then it all dawned on me, a plan so sick and twisted, no one would go for it, but if I could make it happen…if I could make it happen, Rick would get his revenge. We all would.


	2. Chapter 2

"We can't stay here that long!" Rosita cried when Dwight suggested waiting until Negan and the Savior's were done scouting the woods. "Not without food and water!"  
"We need to let Maggie know what happened too," Rick said softly. He was sitting beside his dying son.  
"I'll go," I offered quickly. "I can make it to Hilltop and recruit a few people to bring supplies back."  
"And risk Negan finding you? Are you out of your mind?" Dwight barked "He'll kill you the moment he sees you!"  
"Maybe," I shrugged. "But if Negan finds me, it means he stopped looking for them," I motioned around to the people looking on tiredly. They were exhausted and hungry and just wanted all of this to be over. "They have enough to worry about right now. This is what I'm here to do."  
"Bringing everyone to Hilltop isn't smart either," Dwight pondered. "Everyone in one place?"  
"We stick together," Daryl said bitterly. "Give Negan one hell of a wake up call."  
"Besides," I added, agreeing with the plan to stick together "Someone has to be able to take that sorry excuse of a man down with the numbers on our side. A lot of Saviors were lost when the biters got in."

The debate went on for about an hour before Judith looked up at Daryl, her eyes tired and sad.  
"Hungry!"

"I'll go," I said again, this time not making it an option. "One of you give me your armband, so the guards don't kill me before I can get the message to Maggie."

Rick seemed to want to argue, but Carl stopped him.

"She saved me, dad, she risked everything to get me down here alive. She wants to help, let her," he said sternly. "Besides, worst case she dies, at least it's not one of ours."

As much as I didn't like how that sounded, I accepted it. To them, I was just a rogue Savior who could turn at any second. But in all reality, I wasn't only fighting for them and to there to help take Negan down, I had my eyes on a bigger prize, finding my daughter.

Daryl handed me his white armband before giving me a knowing look.

"Dwight said you're one of the good ones, I hope you make it back alive," he said softly. I knew Daryl meant it too. When he was stuck in the Sanctuary, I would bring him real food in place of the dog food mess Negan thought was appropriate to feed him. I would sneak water down and give him a verbal layout of the place. I helped him get out.

"Gun?" I motioned to Tara, who was still holding my gun, as well as everything else, hostage.  
"No," she said, her tone flat.  
"Tara," Rick said, giving her a knowing look. Tara sighed heavily and handed me my gun, knife, and bag.  
"If I'm not back by the end of the day, assume I'm dead," I said carefully before kneeling down next to Carl. "You keep fighting, kid, you hear?" He looked up at me with sad, tired eyes and nodded. He knew it was a losing battle, but he knew my words went deeper than just fighting to stay alive.

I looked around the tunnel, mentally taking note of how many people were there. I could only hope I made it back in time.

* * *

It didn't take me long to find the Hilltop. I had been there a number of times, both during and prior to my time in the Sanctuary. My daughter and I had passed the small civilization a number of times while we were doing supply runs. We just never had the nerve to try and seek refuge there.

As I ran, there were several occasions where Negan or one of his men almost spotted me, but I knew how to avoid them. I kept moving, keeping my feet light, my head down. I didn't directly run into any confrontation at all. Night was turning to day and I knew I wouldn't have much cover in the sun. I made quick work of the woods, using paths that Negan hadn't mapped out yet to keep me from running directly into them. I could hear the Saviors shouting and Negan's whistle echo through the trees, but I was going to make it. I had to.

As I approached the gate, I heard the guard call out for Maggie, his gun trained on my head. I stopped several feet from the gate, the armband held above my head.  
"Get Maggie, it's about Alexandria and Rick's group," I called up. The guard ducked down for a moment, before I heard the gate creak open, two people approaching me, eyes wary, guns raised. I had seen Maggie a number of times before. She looked exhausted. She hadn't slept that night, the drawn, stern look on her face told everything. Then I saw him.

"Paul? Paul Rovia?" I blinked, shocked to see him.  
"Kaylee?" His eyes widened. We both stared at each other like idiots for a moment before we were locked in each other's embrace. The last time I had seen Paul was when I was still a teenager, bouncing from one home to the next, trying to get out of the system as fast as I could. He came from a rough past and we clicked right from the start. He was my best friend for the handful of years we were in group homes together. I wanted to cry but I had to remember there was business to attend to.

Maggie, having witnessed the exchange, motioned for us to get back behind the gate. It seemed she trusted Paul more than her own guards. Once secure, I went over what happened in Alexandria.

"We need to get them food and water. Negan isn't going to let up easily, he's going to come here looking for them. They're going to have to stay holed up for a while," I said quickly. Maggie nodded and sent a handful of people to gather supplies.  
"Why are you helping them? Us? You're a Savior," she said bitterly.  
"Never willingly," I said slowly, "Which brings me to my next question," I turned to Paul. "Rumor has it you found a little girl not too long ago, out in the woods."  
"I did, she was terrified and almost dead when I found her," he said softly. "Why?"  
"Can…can you go get her?" I asked, my eyes tearing over. Paul hesitated, but ran off to find her.

"Why do you want the little girl?" Maggie asked, her jaw tensing. "What do you want with her?"  
"She could be my daughter," I said, pulling the tattered photo from my pocket. "Negan caught us about six months ago, would have killed us both if he didn't see some kind of potential in me. He had a pair of his goons take my daughter and throw her in the woods somewhere. I've spent the last six months vowing to find her, one way or another."

"Mommy!" a familiar cry rang out across the field. I looked up and sure enough, Kenzi was hobbling towards me, her smile brighter than a million suns. I fell to my knees as she reached me, her arms locking around my neck. I couldn't hold the tears back any longer, I sobbed into her curly hair, my entire body trembling with raw emotions.

"MacKenzi, god damn it, I missed you, I love you baby," I cried, hugging her tighter than I ever imagined possible.  
"Mommy! I was so scared then Jesus found me! You told me to never lose my faith and I didn't! He found me!" she cried, looking up at me with bright, dancing eyes. "Jesus really does save the little children!"

I laughed, looking up at Paul. "So you're Jesus, huh?" I cracked a smile before picking Kenzi up, holding her close to my body, still in shock to see her smiling, bright eyes again. I didn't want to let her go and for a long time I didn't. She looked older, much older, even though it had only been half a year since I saw her last. Her hair was longer, she was taller, her face turning from that of a baby to that of a little human. Her small hands gripped at my shirt, not letting me go for a moment.

* * *

We spent the next two hours gathering supplies and picking out who would follow me back to Alexandria. As hard as it was, I told Kenzi to wait at Hilltop until I came back for her, vowing to only be gone as long as was necessary. She cried bitterly as I kissed her goodbye.

"Mommy! Just stay here! Please?" she begged.  
"I can't love," I said softly. "Remember, everyone has a job to do."  
"What's my job? I'm too little!" she said sadly.  
"Not true," I said, looking at Maggie for a moment. "You can help Maggie tend to anyone who's hurt, just like you used to help me. You can make sure she rests too," I said softly. "Maggie's going to be a mommy, she needs to take it easy sometimes too."  
Maggie smiled at me, that sweet southern smile that made you feel right at home. For a moment, we weren't fighting a war, we were united, we were on the same level. For a single moment, Negan and the war were forgotten.


End file.
